Abstract: A method and/or a device for forming a robust and reliable deployment criterion for a restraint system in a motor vehicle is formed with the help of a fuzzy classifier which receives at least two input quantities. The first input quantity is an operating time which begins when the measured acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold; and a second input quantity takes into account the change in vehicle speed determined from the measured acceleration.

Abstract: A method is introduced for detecting combustion misfires on the basis of the time-dependent course of the rotational movement of a transducer wheel, which is coupled to the crankshaft of an internal combustion engine. In this method, the segment times, in which predetermined segments of the transducer wheel pass a sensor, are detected and processed to a measure for the rough running of the internal combustion engine. A conclusion as to misfires is drawn from the behavior of the measure. The measure for the rough running is formed by digital filtering of segment times with predetermined filter coefficients.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a method for detecting combustion misfires in a multicylinder internal combustion engine. The method includes the steps of: detecting the time span ts(i) in which the crankshaft of the engine passes through a pregiven angular range (.phi.) for each ignition of the engine; computing a vector element Lut(i) for the rough running of the engine based on at least one detected time span ts(i) for each ignition (i) of the engine; forming a vector LUT(i) from at least two vector elements Lut(i), Lut(j) with the two vector elements Lut(i), Lut(j) being for each ignition (i); computing the spacing between the vector LUT(i) and at least one predetermined reference vector Rn and Ra; and, detecting a combustion misfire when the spacing satisfies a predetermined condition.

Abstract: A method for misfire recognition in an internal combustion engine, with the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine having a sensor for determining the rpm and with at least one crankshaft segment being established for each cylinder. By means of the rpm, the segment time (t.sub.SEG) is determined and then the differences (.DELTA.t.sub.SEG) are determined from two successive times t.sub.SEG(n), t.sub.SEG(n-1). In a first phase, a plurality of processing units are calculated from the collected values for each operating point and each possible error, with each of these processing units having a weighting vector and information (I). These weighting vectors are stored in a storage unit of the internal combustion engine. In a second phase, during operation of the internal combustion engine under operating conditions, sample vectors are calculated from the current values then being picked up, the vectors being compared with the individual weighting vectors of the processing units that have been learned.